1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for executing a program by sequentially executing instructions in the program.
2. Related Background Art
In a prior art method for executing a program, when a flow of the program is to be branched to a different direction from a normal direction during the debugging of the program having a branch point, the execution of the program is temporarily interrupted before the branch point and a variable is changed at the branch point to change a branch condition which determines the direction of the branch from a predetermined one to indirectly change the direction of the branch.
In executing the program branching of this type, that is, when the direction of the branch of the program is to be changed, an operator must analyze the branch condition of the program and manually change the content of the variable so that the program is correctly branched to the desired direction. In this method, where the branch condition of the program is complex, the analysis of the branch condition is difficult to attain and the decision for the variable (the number of variables to be changed is not necessarily one) and the content of the change of the variable to attain the branch in the desired direction must be manually determined. Accordingly, the burden to the operator increases and a probability of misoperation increases. Further, it may happen that the program makes an unexpected operation at a different point because of the change of the content of the variable, and if it is a control program for an equipment, a significant damage may be imparted to the overall system.